I do not question why the National Education Technology Plan was developed. Nor do I question the intentions of those who designed it. I do not question Karen Cator’s enthusiasm for sharing the ideals of this plan. Technology is not only the way of the future, but the way of the present. Its proper implementation needs to be a top priority in the world of education, and education needs to be a top priority for us all.
However, I did find myself questioning, how this plan is going be a success. As this plan continues to be implemented over the next two years…
- How will access to technological resources be made equitable among ALL learners when educational funding among different school districts is not currently equitable?
- How will this plan ensure that, if ALL learners have access to a device and educational content 24/7, they will be proficient in using them?
- How will a homeless high school student be motivated to use this new technology to learn, when he is worried about where he will be sleeping that night?
- How is this plan going to be fully implemented by 2014 as planned, when unfortunately some educators, including administrators, still don’t know that it exists?
Personally, I found Karen Cator to be inspiring due to her professionalism, knowledge, and passion. I too am passionate about technology and using it in my classroom, but I think that the use of technology needs to have a very specific instructional purpose. The use of technology for its own sake, or throwing technology at schools and students in hopes that it will solve an unknown or underlying problem will most likely be ineffective. I don’t think that the American education system is broken, but that it is a work in progress.
The principles upon which this plan is based are principles that I as an educator hold with utmost importance. We should teach the individual. Students should have personal choice in what and how they learn. Research on cognitive development and learning science should be the basis for curricular and instructional changes. However, with my current (relatively limited) understanding of the details of the National Education Technology Plan, I remain skeptical of its success by the year 2014.
